Academy lads anticipating FA Youth Cup test

Under-18s wide player Emmanuel Sonupe is targeting a run in the FA Youth Cup as our youngsters prepare to face Middlesbrough in the third round.

We take our first steps in this season’s competition on Monday evening, hosting Boro at Leyton Orient’s Matchroom Stadium.

But although Emmanuel is under no illusions about what’s going to be required to reach the showpiece final, the right-sided attacker believes our lads can impress with the style of play we’ve seen so far in our Barclays Under-18 Premier League campaign.

“Hopefully we’ll go on a good run in the FA Youth Cup and get to the latter stages so we can hopefully lift the trophy,” said Emmanuel.

“We’ve done well with our performances and we’ve had 10 wins, two draws and a couple of losses in the league.

“The way we play, we use the wide men a lot. I quite like it because it’s based around involving wide players like me and creating chances for our strikers to score.”

Versatile defender Connor Ogilvie, who plays primarily at left-back but can also be utilised at centre-half, believes the manner in which victory was secured against Arsenal last weekend served to underline the lads’ footballing philosophies going into Monday night’s match.

“Concentration for the whole game has been a bit of a struggle for us lately but I think we did that on Saturday. As a team I think we achieved the goals that we wanted,” he reflected.

“That win has helped us now because we’ve got the FA Youth Cup on Monday so it’s put us back into winning ways.”

Meanwhile, midfielder Joe Pritchard says the lads can draw confidence from their impressive domestic performances to date – and he admits the lure of silverware at the end of a potential FA Youth Cup run is one that’s hard to resist.

“I’m really happy with how the team is getting on,” said Joe, who can also play at full-back.

“You always see from the best teams at senior level that they win trophies as well as doing well in the league – Bayern Munich and Barcelona have done it. I think that’s a really important thing for getting the next step out of the team. I think a trophy would be really good for us.”

Come and support the lads as they take on Middlesbrough at Leyton Orient’s Matchroom Stadium on Monday evening – tickets are £5 for adults and £1 for concessions (under 16 and over 65). Kick-off is at 7pm.